Stollburg, Medieval castle ruin in Oberschwarzach, Germany

Stollburg is a castle ruin in Oberschwarzach with stone remains including a tower rising to about 14 meters and walls roughly 2.5 meters thick, reflecting medieval building methods. The remains give a sense of how a medieval fortress was constructed and scaled.

Built in the 12th century by the lords of Stollberg, the castle passed to the Bishopric of Würzburg in 1237 and became the seat of a Würzburg bailiff in 1303. In 1236 Ludwig von Stollberg was killed in a feud with Bishop Hermann von Lobdeburg; the line did not end there. On 2 May 1525, during the Peasants' War, the castle was destroyed and burned down while bailiff Wolfgang I, Count of Castell, was called to Würzburg to defend the Marienberg fortress.

Local historian Gerhard Wagner argued that the minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide was born at Stollburg around 1170, though this is a thesis rather than a settled fact. The castle also gave its name to the Stollberg family, whose documented members Walter, Conrad, Henry and Ludwig appear as witnesses in royal charters between 1172 and 1200.

The ruin stands at 442.9 metres on the 476-metre Stollberg above the Handthal district of Oberschwarzach, in the Schweinfurt district of Lower Franconia. The site is a Bodendenkmal, so the half-buried cellar entrance and wall remnants should be left untouched. The nearest larger town is Gerolzhofen, about 6.4 km to the east.

The castle stands on the 476-metre Stollberg, which the sources call Franconia's highest wine-growing site; the ruin itself lies at 442.9 metres. Local researcher Gerhard Wagner argued that the minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide was born at the Stollburg around 1170, a claim that remains unproven.